Time Warner stock is taking a hit right now, and it's all because of a recent Bloomberg report that the Department of Justice is leaning towards an anti-trust lawsuit against the Time Warner-Comcast merger. Per David McLaughlin at Bloomberg:

Staff attorneys at the Justice Department’s antitrust division are
nearing a recommendation to block Comcast Corp.’s bid to buy Time Warner
Cable Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.

Attorneys who are investigating Comcast’s $45.2 billion proposal to
create a nationwide cable giant are leaning against the merger out of
concerns that consumers would be harmed and could submit their review as
soon as next week, said the people.

The antitrust lawyers will present their findings to Renata Hesse, a
deputy assistant attorney general for antitrust, who will decide, along
with the division’s top officials, whether to file a federal lawsuit to
block the deal, they said.

The Justice Department lawyers have been contacting outside parties
in the last few weeks to shore up evidence to support a potential case
against the merger, one of the people said.

Furthermore, officials at the antitrust division and the Federal
Communications Commission, which is also reviewing the deal, aren’t
negotiating with Comcast about conditions to the merger that would
resolve concerns, such as selling parts of its business or changing
practices, said two people familiar with the situation.

If the DOJ officially comes out against the merger and/or if the merger doesn't go through then I think it's fair to say that it could be a very, very, very long time until SportsNet LA will reach the other 70% of LA homes. After all, it's been widely reported that this pending merger was the main barrier to having the channel on everyone's television, and if it ceases to happen then all kind of wheels start to fall off. Heck, the speculation that a SportsNet LA bankruptcy filing is imminent becomes much more real.

UPDATE: I should add that there is one very interesting point in the Bloomberg article. It states that the DOJ is NOT currently negotiating with Comcast to address their concerns. Basically, it's all or nothing for them and that's bad news for Comcast.

These uniforms were produced for night games in an effort to make the
players "stand out," seemingly with a nod to the depleted talent pool
that existed in the closing years of World War II. The experiment did
not last long and save for a brief revisit in 1948, the uniforms were
produced in very limited quantities with few surviving examples having
surfaced. The offered is a home white satin jersey from Ray Hayworth
retaining its original "Dodgers" blue lettering across the front with
desirable No. 32 on the verso having later been retired by the Dodgers
in honor of Sandy Koufax.

This is former Brooklyn Dodger pitcher Mal Mallette's 1951 Montreal Royals International League championship ring. Mallette had a stellar year in 1951 after getting a "cup of coffee" in Brooklyn the prior season. He went 10-2 with a 2.30 ERA in 29 games for Montreal. Unfortunately, he would never get another chance with the big club, and would eventually leave the game after the following season at the age of 30. After retiring he became a sportswriter and was inducted into the North Carolina Journalism Hall of Fame.

Released just a couple of days ago, here is a look at all of the Dodger base cards found in 2015 Gypsy Queen. Go here for a complete checklist.

There is something about how they manipulate the photos for this set that I really love. Features on players that are usually glossed over are accentuated, and any photoshopping that's done (like to the Kendrick card) looks seamless. As you may know, it's based on an 19th century tobacco card set, so they go all out in giving it an old-timey feel.

My main complaint, though, is the photo selections for both Jackie Robinson and Sandy Koufax. For whatever reason Topps continues to use the same old photos for them in every set they are a part of, and it's getting boring as heck. And how many times do we have to see Clayton Kershaw show us the ball? That photo has been used so many times since it debut in Allen & Ginter several years ago. Ryu showing us the ball, on the other hand, is something I can appreciate.

Next week I'll have pics of the variations, inserts, autograph and relic cards. So stay tuned.

The Dodgers held their Dodgers Foundation Gala last night and by all accounts it was a fun and worthwhile affair. The boys were able to get together and let loose a bit by downing some drinks, sharing a stogie with Uribe and wearing some outrageous outfits for a fashion show. Fun was definitely had by all. The photo above was taken by Jon SooHoo. Go here to check out more pics from him, Juan Ocampo and Jill Weisleder from the evening.

The expectation is that even if Alvarez is granted the waiver that he
will wait until July 2nd to sign. This is due to the persistent rumors
that the Dodgers will be blowing past their international bonus pool for
2015-2016 (starting on July 2nd), with Alvarez their top target.

“Joc is a solid defender,” Mattingly said. “That talks to the importance
of what he’s capable of doing out there kind of on an everyday basis.
Not so much having to make the spectacular plays, but just the bread and
butter, getting good jumps, running good routes, being solid for us.”

What a strange game of musical chairs. The day after being called up to Los Angeles Carlos Frias has now been optioned back to AAA. That leaves an open spot to the 25-man active roster, so expect a move soon to replace him in the bullpen.

"All hell broke loose," Amalfitano said. "All the guys came out of
the dugout. I was going to home plate and stopped and said, 'Wait a
minute, this one's going down in history.' So I went back to third and
shook his hand."

Panini has released a bunch of preview pics from their upcoming 2015 Diamond Kings Baseball set; including the Joc Pederson and Corey Seager cards below. Go here to check out more pics from Panini. The set officially releases on April 29th.

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“There’s nothing like wearing a Dodger jersey. There’s nothing like it in sports. I don’t care that I’ve never been anywhere else. I don’t care. There’s nothing like wearing a Dodger jersey.” -- A.J. Ellis